This Prodigy
by Salem'sDarkness
Summary: Ibel, a seemingly normal young man trying adjust with his life, soon finds that life is trying to adjust to him. Folk regard him with fear, mysterious happenings occur in his presence. And a history long since buried, arises once more. Plz R&R! No flames
1. Wake Up

Yes, yes. I know I haven't finished or worked on my other fanfics and this is probably not going to ever be finished but it's a;; just some fun literate practice right? Anyway, this is ma' third fanfic and my first REAL attempt to actually write something worthy to e called story. I think… Still, please RR and no flames! Thanx!

Disclaimer: I own… nothing…

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It's not just the way people in town look at me. Or how they always talk about me behind my back, thinking I don't know they're there. Or even how everyone likes to keep their distance from me, how Aubury the town astrologer smacks his lips and glares, or how Hebert the town merchant always closes up shop when I'm around. I just have the feeling that something just isn't _right _about me. It's not that I'm attracted to anyone of the same sex or hang around with the local drunkards or anything like that. It's just a feeling I get. 

But I suppose you want to hear a little about me. Not about my boring history or anything along those lines, but I mean, I'm sure you want to know who I am. I couldn't tell you about my past anyway because, truthfully, I don't remember all that much. Only that I was an orphan 'til the age of nine. Anyway, my name is Ibel and I'm the grateful son of a rather well-to-do armorer named Alvere, who was kind enough to take in a homeless child as his own. Most of the townsfolk respects him for both his arduous professional skills as a craftsman as well as his rather popular personality that he shared with the public. Many knights and lords of the land travel especially to our town of Durrun for only the best of armory in this part of the world, located near the southern rim of the Gulf Of Westmarch. I knew this when I'd come across a mare-colored map of our side of the hemisphere resting on an oil wood table in my father's room one night.

Anyway, people have come to know me. And that doesn't exactly mean they like me. I'm pretty sure the only reason I walk through the village without being shunned or harmed too bad is because of my father's reputation. I'm not quite sure why they keep themselves from me though. Gossip hangs in the air about superstitions and ill omens, and most are centered around me. I had heard from my father once that, on the day he'd taken me in as one of his own, the livestock in one of the nearby farmer's settlements died of an unknown cause. But that isn't the only event that led to my alienation, though I'm not quite sure of the others.

Anyhow, I suppose I should tell you what happened from the beginning. How all of it started. Not about how I had discovered my past, but how my past discovered me…

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In the morning of the first day of the harvesting season, I awoke to that all familiar smell of unfamiliarity. The smell of old, rotting wood and moist earth filled my screaming lungs. The feel of soft moss sponged beneath my fingers, powdery dirt flecked in my eyes and in my mouth and coating my arms and legs. It was always like this, every month or so. I spat, trying rid myself of the awful grit between my teeth and the coppery taste of my own blood. It had been those 'B' brothers again; Bugg, Bain, and Baldan, the notorious bullies of Durrun. Yesterday it seems, they'd decided to knock me around for awhile yet again, mostly out of sheer spite and boredom, partly because I knew and befriended the village's number one girl Audrey, the beautiful Baker's daughter. I adjusted my shirt, now a fine garment of wool and soil, and stood up painfully, despite the angry protests of my sore body.

I wasn't quite sure where I was at the moment as I was too busy wondering if my father was getting hectic over my overnight disappearance again. The forest I found myself in seemed welcoming enough but very unfamiliar. However, I could smell the acrid fumes of the livestock whom I knew to be Farmer Brill's, the meanest, crotchety old man one could ever meet, who lived in the farthest side of town. So obviously I wasn't too far from where I was supposed to be. I thought of my father's red, moon-like face filling my vision, quizzing me on where I'd been and why I my clothes were so filthy.

So instead of heading towards the direction of that manure smelling path, my feet led me deeper into the thick underbrush of the woods. I wasn't up to facing my father just yet. A small trail, most likely belonging to some small woodland creature, opened up before me, tiny, child-like dents in the wet mush of fallen leaves. I retrieved a lengthy, thin tree limb, dragging the tip to give birth to an irregular, continuous line trailing behind me. Plants brushed against my pants, soaking them from the dewdrop jewels gathered during the night. I couldn't help but follow the path, ignoring the possibilities of danger or the pain still welling beneath my skin. I was still drowsy from first awakening but the pain helped me gain some alertness. Besides, I was vaguely aware of the small leather hide scabbard rhythmically drumming against my thigh, holding the small dagger I'd failed to use against the brothers during their onslaught, should an animal decide to chose me as it's next meal.

Suddenly, something occurred to me. I could hear something. Something fresh and burbling, rejuvenating. It was the rushing sound of a brook nearby, gurgling like an infant. All of a sudden, I was parched so I made my way towards the voice of the flowing brook.

Oh, I found the brook all right, but that wasn't the only thing I found. Much to my surprise, there was a woman bathing in the water. Well, standing knee deep in the water was more like it. Her bare back was towards me so that I could see a rivulet of russet cascading from the back of her delicate head. Lean, pale shoulders formed a perfect triangle beneath her flowing hair and the only clothing she wore were layers of thin, crimson silk draped from her slender neck and most likely dangling before the front half of her body. A wayward edge of the silk trailed in the water, making the flimsy garment sway. I could feel my cheeks getting hot as I knew I'd just intruded on someone.

My plan of action was simple: I was just going to back away into the bushes quietly and resume my aimless wandering. However, it seemed the tempting woman knew I'd been there, watching her, and her milk-white body turned before I could retreat. Eyes that were gorgeous, golden almonds fixed upon me and I was glued to the spot. Smacking my dirt-crusted lips, I was aware that I looked as if I probably _lived_ in this forest.

"I, I'm sorry, miss. I was just heading here for some water and …" I stuttered, and stopped, noticing the slim figure with batting eyes slipping out of the water onto the muddy bank and advancing towards me. "P-Please excuse me. M-My name is…"

"Shhh…" the woman murmured and all was well. She placed a thin finger over my lips. "I know you." This puzzled me for never had I seen a woman with such grace and fluidity and yet mystery. For one, only women of great stature or class wore garments of fine silk and yet, here was this woman out in the forest, wading in a stream for a reason that was unapparent to me.

"You must be mistaken, my lady." I recoiled, feeling a shiver nestle in my spine.

She bats an eyelash, luscious lips curving gently into a smile. "Sir Ibel. We envision a great many things to come from you," she said, in a voice lathered slightly in an accent I wasn't familiar with. "We anticipate your awakening. I await your awakening…" Who was this woman? And how did she know my name? Before I could reply to her strange words, the woman lowered my head to hers. A thread of a whisper tickled my ear as she spoke softly and then her lips gently met my cheek, it's contact causing my skin to burst with small beads of sweat. The forest began to spin in an analogous blur of greens and earthen hues, my knees almost giving way beneath me. When my opened my eyes (after discovering I'd closed them) the odd lady was gone. But what was it she had breathed into my ear? Son of 'cause', 'case'…something like that anyway.

But the woman was gone. She probably must've walked off. Or I could've imagined her. I swear, my mind likes to play tricks. The stick I had earlier lay dead at my feet and I recollected it, heading off back towards my trail, no longer thirsty. As I retreated, I could still hear the babbling stream behind me and I was aware of the tingling sensation lingering on my cheek…


	2. Coming Home

Okay, well, THAT was interesting wasn't it? WASN'T IT! Anyway, thank you for reviewing Madman! Remember, please R&R and no flames! Reviews make the author happy. Wow, I haven't posted in a LONG time. Wahhh… I'm so lazy… Boohoo.

Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own anything.

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The air was acrid and humid, always bringing back memories of harsh rains that often caused much trouble to many people. It was a gray day today, the pregnant clouds overhead beginning to show the promise of a shower most likely later on in the afternoon. Several cottages loomed on both sides of the dirt road, looking like speechless sentinels, their open windows gazing out at me, as I made my way back into town. 

"Ye ran away again, din't you boy?" said the man I knew as Bord, upon passing. His words were tinted with cranberry cider, which he so covetously loved. His face was thin with poverty, stringy white hair scrawling from an otherwise bald head. Eyes that always seemed as though they saw through you and into the distance met my own, sharp stare. I opened my mouth to speak. Bord didn't even await my answer, clumsily staggering away, a jug hanging from a limp arm. Most people thought he was pathetic, I merely considered him as an arcane, old drunkard who liked to meddle in the affairs of others without actually caring.

It seemed as though I was walking through a suspended glob of viscid liquid the closer I got to the cottage in which I lived. I glanced right, left, noting all the familiar straw houses and busy shops, averting my eyes whenever someone cared to glance my way. I knew that my house of stone would loom up just further ahead, nestled against the backdrop of another forest.

"Where have you been, boy?" I heard my father say, who came from around the side of the house. "I been looking all over 'fer ya." His large, rotund form filled my vision. His graying beard and balding head outlined his face. He smelled of fire and hard work, his hands rough and impure from his profession.

It felt as though I sank before his image. "I was out in the forest," I said simply.

"What you doing out there son?" he grumbled, clearly upset. This was his way of showing he was worried.

"I uh, was walking yesterday and I… fell asleep… somehow…" I lied, not wanting my father to know I'd been beaten by Bugg, Bain, and Baldan again. I tried to hide my face from his discerning gaze which seemed to bore into my skull with the force of a great hammer. Yet somehow, I saw that my lie had failed and that my adoptive father knew; it gleamed well in his eyes. He put a rough hand on my head and ruffled my hair brusquely, a small smile creeping across his face. I cringed at first, then dared to look up. I saw that his anger had boiled away mostly, his countenance reflecting only paternal concern.

"You just be careful boy. Okay?"

"Y-yes sir," I stuttered and that was the end of it. He let me go and I reluctantly sighed as if I'd been holding my breath, which was exactly the case. I was afraid he'd punish me somehow or worse, go over to my torturers' house and have a 'talk' with them. But I could see my father knew well enough to let them alone which I was entirely grateful for. My hair now a ruffled mess and my lungs replenishing it's supply of air, I made my way out of the cottage.

That was when the smiling Audrey made her way towards me from the floral shop down the street with unvoiced words waiting to be spilled into my mind. Words that would change my life forever. '_Come with me…' _she said. The dark clouds overhead only got darker.

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I came with her that night, upon her request, despite constant internal warning, despite the terrible storm that was sure to sweep the town clean with the ferocity of Mother Nature in a bad mood. It was somewhere we weren't supposed to go, a place that screamed 'Do Not Enter'. But I went anyway for the sake of both beautiful and rebellious Audrey. The bar, 'The Wolf's Den' they called it, loomed ahead in the darkness, it's windows glowing like fiery eyes in the stilled darkness. Violent voices rang out into the night, coming from the bar's rickety doors. The ever-present smell of alcohol caught in my lungs, that sweetly pungent odor that you could never forget. I couldn't believe I'd be stupid enough to follow her here. But I did.

My life changed, all because she wanted to sneak a few ounces of alcohol into her system. Silly women and their fantasies. Silly Audrey and her fantasy to grow up faster than time would allow her to.

At first, I had been foolish enough to believe that she'd finally tell me something that I'd been anticipating to hear; to finally acknowledge that she had feelings for me. But I was wrong again. She didn't know how much I loved her any more than a mule knew how to fly.

Audrey crouched defiantly in the bushes beside me, harsh winds beginning to pick up speed. Her hair flushed about in the bush and she nodded at me as the hungry grumbles of thunder from the black sky growled their warnings. Apparently I was waiting to make a rush for the bar doors with her on her signal. Her intense, bright eyes scanned the dark street before the bar, wary for her father who was surely out looking for her even in such imminent storm conditions. I felt so _defenseless_ out there in that bush, the open, black Unknown encasing me in it's infinite bosom.

"I can't believe you're dragging me into this," I sighed, my hair tangling in the finger-like twigs of the bush. Tiny ants, invisible in the shroud of darkness, crawled on little voyages over my hands, biting warily into my thumb and fore finger. I stifled back my cries of discomfort and pain, as I could not remove my hands lest I topple over clumsily.

"Oh I'm not dragging you into this. _You're_ the one who agreed on coming with me," she retaliated, a smug, self-satisfied look on her face, hidden mostly in shadow. "Besides, you didn't _have_ to come." Like I had choice.

"Wait, did you see that?" I had thought I'd seen something move farther down the street. It was tall and shifted unsteadily as far as I could tell in the few seconds I held it in my vision. But it could've been my imagination. I _do_ have the craziest one. I found I'd been holding my breath again.

"See what?"

"Nothing."

Suddenly, it was apparent Audrey had made up her mind as she bolted for the door, my right arm clasped in her hand. Awkwardly I was dragged from the bush, spindly, bony twigs snatching at my clothes and I had to pull my feet under myself to gain balance. I didn't know Audrey was just going to dart like that without giving me any forewarning. The street beneath my feet sped by, the moist wind pushing past my face as if it were doing so under my father's orders. If getting beaten by local bullies and lost in a forest didn't tip off my father's anger, I was quite sure this would.

As we bounded away, I could've sworn I saw the bushes doing something they shouldn't have been doing; they had been _moving_ somehow as if an unknown thing writhed within the heart of the foliage. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end…


	3. Fire And Wine

Hmmm..I haven't been on the internet in a while. Wow. Anyway, I had the sudden urge to write again. Yay! Oww.. Bruised finger.. Anyway, thanks for the review Avatar! Hehe. La! Oh yeah, don't forget to review please! I likeys reviews! Hmmm... Now without further ado, I give you Chapter 3 of 'This Prodigy'.

Disclaimer: I no own thingies in this fanfic! AHHH!

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The feeling of just standing there in the doorway of 'The Wolf's Den' was worse then the acrid smell of the place and the drunken, weary gazes focusing on us drowsily. Luckily for me and Audrey, the occupants of the pub cared no more about our presence than they did for their own lives. Audrey boldly led the way to the counter behind which stood a large, rotund, balding man, whose apron seemed decorated in unrecognizable, ancient stains. He seemed to belong perfectly in this gloomy, dank place of alcoholism and waste, perched behind the worn wooden counter. A nearby candle illuminated his bloated features to a grotesque degree. The man's face, carved from the darkness by the candle flame's crimson blade, loomed curiously closer to examine first Audrey then me. 

As we two sat each on a crooked stool, ignoring the drunken gazes boring into our backs from behind, the bartender spoke, his putrid breath fouling the air in a thick cloud. Crooked, black teeth greeted us as he spoke. "Now what do we 'ave here? A coupl'a young'uns looking' fer a pint, eh?" His fire-lit eyes shifted to my companion. "And the beautiful child of the rich Baker blood too!"

Audrey lurched over closely to the barkeep's face. "Oh please sir!" she exhaled hurriedly, her wavy locks falling over one eye. "Please don't-"

"Settle down, settle down lass," his boorish chuckle filling the air. "I won't tell yer pap. Besides if it means business fer' me, then you're welc'm anytime."

"But we don't have any -" I interjected, then paused, seeing the glint of silver at Audrey exposed wrist. She slipped four coins from her sleeve. _Oh what a scheming, mischievous girl!_ I sighed, my hopes that she really wasn't going to spoil her pure self, destroyed. Snatching the coins greedily, the barkeep faded back into the darkness, leaving us in silence. Behind us, the sharp laughter of men rang out from a table near the door, the clanking of glasses sounding from another table near a large fire roaring in a fireplace to my left. The heat, mingled with the stench of the place and loud voices, made my head swim and I admit, I was probably the more worried of us two. Audrey seemed to be enjoying herself, swaying happily on her stool. She finally noticed my uneasy stare and returned it in a warming smile. I could've told her we weren't supposed to be here, that we weren't even supposed to be out this time of night, that we would be in serious trouble if we ran into people who weren't as 'distracted' as the avaricious bartender. But I knew it was useless, nothing could get to Audrey when she became determined. And usually, I was always around when that determined streak took hold of her.

In silence I waited, further avoiding Audrey's attention. In my silent anxiety, my fingers ran along the smooth, unclean surface of the counter and came across some grooves in the wood that I hadn't noticed before. My finger felt along what looked oddly like a scrape resulted from nails dug into the wood, as if the cause of this had tried desperately to hang on to the table for fear life. My hand followed it until it stopped at the edge of the counter. _Strange..._

A loud _thunk_ startled me and brought me back to my senseless contemplation. I realized our drinks were here. I heard the scruffy bartender mumble something like "Enjoy" as he disappeared back wherever he'd gotten the drinks, as if he only desired to step into light if a paying customer waltzed in through the pub doors. Audrey beamed inwardly as her slight, delicate fingers met the cool surface of her glass. I myself shuddered inwardly. I wasn't sure if I could stomach it, but I wasn't about to let the one girl of my dreams know either. As my fingers grasped the hilt of my cup, something strange happened, the third for today.

My eyes closed, and behind my lids played a scene of horrific proportions...

_A woman screams. The place is as it was now, only outside, rain spatters heavily outside. Vicious torrents waiting to sweep up any prey it could find. Thick, putrid rain._

_More screams. There is blood on the table. That table, nearest the blazing fireplace. Blood spilling¼ She is lying on her back, crying..._

_The fireplace illuminates her, crimson stars in the tears streaming down her face. The rest of the surroundings are blurred._

_Suddenly, the door bursts open, a chilling influx of air gushing in, bringing about more screams from others, gathered around the woman. "You can't be here!" someone shouts defiantly at the door. Fire engulfs my entire vision. I can feel the heat brushing my cheeks, the invading cold chilling my bones..._

"Ibel? Hey, Ibel." While I'd been off dreaming, I'd failed to notice three imposing men step in through the door, silver blades clinking in the hilts at their waists, whom which Audrey was currently warning me about. She seemed positively terrified of them. That was when I recognized from their garments that they served the Baker's. A wealthy family's servants out to look for a stray child. I said before that Audrey's lineage was rich, but did I mention her father was Lord of the entire land?

I knew that if they had even the slightest idea that I'd perhaps taken Audrey hostage or against her will, the guards would not show even the slightest sympathy for me as they ran six inches of finely polished steel through my gut. Danger realized, looked toward Audrey.

"You'll have to drain that fast Audrey or you'll never have the chance," I said, taking one of her hands. She nodded briefly and took a huge swig from the glass before we crouched and led ourselves to a dark corner of the room, ducking behind the various tables and the garrulous drunkards. From our vantage point in the corner, I spotted a side door that led outside from what I could tell. "That way," I whispered. '_All this for a drink.' _I sighed as we made a beeline to the door, hidden at the back of the pub. Here old dishes crusted with long neglected grease and dirty cloths were heaped near the door. An old witch-like woman leered at us from the back kitchen, wooden spoon poised at the edge of a bubbling pot. From the corner of my eyes I could still see the guards at the front of the door, scrutinizing the first of many drunken faces.

Relief. We were outside.

"I see my father's missing me already," Audrey stated smartly, her curving outline outlined in silver moonlight. "Perhaps it is wisest now to depart, my friend."

I nodded in agreement. _The wisest thing would have been never coming. _I watched as Audrey's form became dimmer, swallowed up by the hungry shadows of darkness, until she rounded a corner, heading for the castle that lay good walk away. I began to regret having left her alone, but it wasn't as if she'd asked for my company anyway. I, too, began my way back to the house, dreaming up suitable ways to slip past my father's acute hearinf even while asleep. But I still couldn't shake the fact that Audrey was walking home, alone, in the middle of the night.

I knew it in my bones. Something was sure to happen. And it did.

I heard Audrey scream...

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Okay. So this chappie was short. Unbearably short but, it's better then nothing right? Hehe. Anyways, please remember to review! I love reviews! They are my life source! Gah! I'm dying! X.X Mwahahahahah. Peace. :P 


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